The Umetada family worked for many generations for the family of the Ashikaga-shōgun and made, besides swords and horimono, habaki, seppa, tsuba and fuchigashira. Umetada Myōju, the most famous representative of the Umetada family, worked at the beginning of his career for the 15th Ashikaga-shōgun Yoshiaki. He, known as the “Father of shintō” (“the modern sword”), lived in the Nishijin section of Kyōto in the Momoyama and Edo period (1556 – 1631). His metal-carving talent is demonstrated by the unprecedented quality of the carvings decorating the tsuba. Myōju produced many graphic tsuba made in the hira-zōgan or iroe inlay methods using gold, silver, shakudō and suaka alloy metals.